Bones
by theelegantwalrus
Summary: {Charlie Weasley x OFC} {Alan Grant x Ellie Sattler} Don't you want to come with me, Don't you want to feel my bones On your bones? It's only natural.
1. Prologue

Doctor Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant stood in the hotel lobby, kissing the cheek of Aelia Sattler-Grant goodbye.

"And stay safe," Ellie insisted, "we've been told this is the best school for you to go to."

"Me? Stay safe? Mom, you took me to Jurassic Park!" Aelia glared, truth be told, neither Ellie or Alan where the biological parents of Aelia, but had adopted her as their own after Aelia's parents, close friends of theirs, had died.

"And we were all lucky to survive." Alan reminded her, "If you had got hurt any worse," he shuddered, "I don't even want to think about it." She had been lucky, her, Lex and Timmy had stuck together like glue, all escaping with nothing more serious than large scratches on Aelia's back from the fierce velociraptors.

"Fine. I'll be safe." She sighed. A woman appeared at Ellie's shoulder.

"Is this Aelia Sattler-Grant?" She asked, the three nodded in reply, "I'm here to escort her to London via international port key."

"Oh, of course." Alan looked taken back at the sudden departure of his daughter.

"Well. We'll miss you so much." Ellie told her, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Write plenty." Alan hugged his daughter once more.

"Buy a pretty owl." Ellie hugged Aelia.

"I want a snake though."

"Not on the list! Owl."

"Fine, fine." Aelia hugged both her parents and grabbed her backpack. "I'll see you at Christmas."

"Stay safe and out of trouble!" They both shouted as Aelia followed the witch into the hustle and bustle of the hotel.

"She'll be fine." Ellie told her partner, resting her head on his upper arm.

"I know, I know." Alan patted Ellie's arm clumsily.

"C'mon," Ellie said after a few minutes of them standing silence, "we have a work to get to."

 **I'm both HP and Jurassic Park trash so, bam! Crossover fic!**

 **I'll be taking references and inspiration from both the novels and films, so don't bother trying to correct me because I know what I'm talking about fam**

 **I'm salty as ever**

 **Tight**

 **-Ellie**


	2. Chapter 1

The site was typically crowded, the team busy finding fossils, using various pieces of technology, however, today was less busy with the site being packed up the next day, so that only five people remained on Hope's Nose, three of which were dusting remnants of limestone off a trilobite, when the owls arrived, the three teenagers looked up at the sound of their wings and the drop of the three official looking envelopes, wiping sweat of her forehead Aelia picked her own up, throwing two to the two other teens, Fred and George Weasley, two of closest friends.

"Don't you think it's funny that our O.W.L. results are delivered by owls?" Aelia mused to Fred and George, as Hope's Nose was so close to the Burrow, both had been spending the last two weeks there, digging with Aelia, her parents and various other palaeontologists and archaeologists.

"Mum's not going to be happy." Fred grimaced, he'd opened his letter and checked his results.

"You passed transfiguration though, at least McGonagall will be happy." Aelia pointed out, tearing her own envelope open.

"I didn't." George sighed, reading his results, "How did you do?" She unfolded the thick parchment she held in her hand.

 _ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS_

 _Pass grades:_  
 _Outstanding (O)_  
 _Exceeds Expectations (E)_  
 _Acceptable (A)_

 _Fail Grades:_  
 _Poor (P)_  
 _Dreadful (D)_  
 _Troll (T)_

 _AELIA_ _LAURA_ _SATTLER_ _-GRANT HAS ACHIEVED:_

 _Arithmancy_ _: D_  
 _Astronomy: A_  
 _Care of Magical Creatures: O_  
 _Charms: E_  
 _Defence Against the Dark Arts: E_  
 _Herbology: O_  
 _History of Magic: P_  
 _Potions: P_  
 _Transfiguration: O_

As she read, her parents walked over to the three teens, her father took the letter from her hands and read it.

"Good job." Ellie nodded, Alan looked pleased, but mildly confused.

"Why are they not in alphabetical order?" He asked.  
"The same reason there are seventeen sickles in a galleon and twenty-nine knuts in a sickle." Aelia patted his arm, "I've learnt to stop questioning things now."

With only three weeks left of the summer holiday, and the Quidditch world cup looming round the corner, Aelia, Fred and George said their goodbyes to Ellie, Alan and the dig site, setting off for the Burrow in a muggle style

Molly Weasley was in the kitchen when they arrived, she beamed at Aelia, hugged her tightly and informed her that she looked too skinny, Aelia didn't bother telling her that she wasn't skinny at all, or that she looked that way due to muscles, built up through years of digging, and more recently, Quidditch, she had joined the Gryffindor team as a chaser two years ago, along side Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson. Molly turned to her two sons, and an anger fuelled fire seemed to burst into light in her eyes.

"Uh-oh." George whispered, giving a sideways glance to his twin.

"Aelia, hi!" A familiar voice that Aelia hadn't heard in sometime spoke, she turned and her eyes met those of Charlie Weasley.

"Charlie!" She beamed, "Oh, yeah, we better leave them to it." Charlie was looking cautiously over Aelia's shoulder to his mother, Fred and George.

"We'll go outside?" Charlie suggested, and Aelia agreed, following him out the door and down the small path into the Weasley's back garden, which was incredibly messy, but very welcoming. Molly's voice could be heard as they wondered through the tall grass.

"Back for the world cup by any chance?" She asked as they both sat in the grass, Charlie had befriended Aelia on her first day of Hogwarts, she had been wearing a tooth of a tyrannosaurus-rex on a length of string round her neck, when Charlie had demanded to know what kind of dragon the tooth belonged to, when Aelia had replied it was the tooth of a dinosaur, an instant connection had been made.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." He laughed, "If we even have the tickets, Dad reckons Ludo Bagman might give us top box tickets."

"Top box?"

"Where the Minister sits." Charlie explained vague, he had his wand out now and was making butterflies blossom out of it like balloons, the two of them lay on their backs, watching the butterflies flutter away.

"Right." Aelia yawned, Molly's voice had disappeared by this point, "I bet she found the order forms." She mused, "Or their O.W.L. results." A shadow fell over Aelia and Charlie's faces.

"What _are_ you two doing?" Ginny asked.

"Lying, talking, catching up." Charlie shrugged at his only sister.

"Come join us, Ginny." Aelia patted the grass next to her.

"I can't," she sighed, "Mum wants me to tell you both to come in for lunch in ten minutes."

"I ate a huge breakfast though." Aelia let out a groan, "I can't eat as much as she wants me to."

"Just pass it to Ron, he'll eat the lot."

As full as Aelia felt, food at the Weasley house was too good to resist, and it also meant that she got to see each member of the family. Arthur and Percy were evidently at work, but Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Charlie, Molly and - much to Aelia's surprise- Bill were all sat with Aelia around the scrubbed table. Molly had cut up a selection of cold meats, bread and cheese for each to make.

"Bill?" Aelia asked, a sandwich in her hands.

"Hmm?" His mouth was full.

"Do you keep finding sand in your boots for months after a dig?" She looked up at him, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Yeah." He answered thickly, at a threaten look from his mother, he swallowed and continued, "You've got to scourgify them, and don't accio the sand, I tried and ended up having sand in my-"

"That's enough, Bill." Molly interrupted."My hair, Mum. Not my- well, you get the idea." Ginny had fell into a fit of giggles, causing Aelia to style="box-sizing: border-box;" /The meal continued, Aelia chatted happily to each Weasley about various subjects, eventually, the conversation fell onto sleeping arrangements.

"Percy gets to keep his own bedroom, he's got to work," Molly explained, "Bill and Charlie have took Fred and George's room, so you two are up in Ron's room - don't groan at me like that - Harry will be staying in Ron's room as well, and Hermione and Aelia will share your room, Ginny." Aelia highfived Ginny over the table, Ginny had became something of a younger sister to Aelia, they had not got on at first, a new girl suddenly sharing her bedroom had been frustrating to Ginny who had been only eight at the time, but once Aelia had woken her up out of a fit of jetlag tiredness, holding a chocolate bar (a butterfinger, which became Ginny's favourite almost at once) in her face, they had been close.

"When are Hermione and Harry coming?" Ron asked.

"As soon as we have the tickets, Ron, now come and help me with the dishes."

If you picked up the subtle reference in Aelia's name, I'll love you for the rest of my life I s2g

-Ellie


	3. Chapter 2

The week leading up to the world cup had been quite enjoyable. Aelia spent the days in the paddock with Fred, George, Ron, Bill and Charlie, playing three-a-side Quidditch, or in the garden, chatting the many hours of the day away with Molly, Ginny and after a few days, Hermione. She awoke early, as her body was used to, instead of leaving for a dig site, as was usual, she simply made herself a mug of coffee and sat in the early morning light in the garden, sipping at her mug and reading.

"You are an early bird." Molly commented, the Saturday after she had arrived at the Burrow.

"Always have been." She smiled, washing her mug in the sink, she had placed her book on the scrubbed table.

"What are you reading?" She had glanced at the book and furrowed her eyebrows.

"A book on dinosaur breeding patterns." She explained, grabbing the book, "It's in Spanish." She opened the book to show Molly the text.

"Spanish?"

"Sí, yo hablo español." Molly looked confused, "I speak Spanish, fluently at that." She translated.

"But she won't teach you, she's not taught us anything." Fred spoke, him and George had appeared, tousled haired and bleary eyed.

"That's because you only want to know swears, you never want to learn how to ask how someone's day was."

"¿Que tal tu día?" Ginny asked, yawning as she entered the kitchen.

"Fue bueno, gracias." Aelia replied

"I've never been more confused." George shook his head and placed it into his hands.

"Imagine how felt in Mexico not able to speak a word of Spanish except 'yo hablo enspañol'. Not exactly useful." She shrugged, refilling her now clean mug.

The kitchen filled quickly, before long, the table was too full for all of the Weasleys - Arthur and Percy where home owing to the fact it was Saturday - Hermione and Aelia to fit around, but they squished up, bumping elbows and laughing apologies, Aelia sat in between Charlie and Ginny, half on each of their seats. Judging from what Arthur was saying, Harry was due to be picked up from his Aunt and Uncle's house at five via the Floo network the next day. Everyone but Charlie seemed to be deep in conversation.

"Have you got any further with- y'know?" Aelia asked, speaking out of the corner of her mouth.

"No, I need to actually see dinosaurs in their natural habitat, which is quite difficult as they're y'know, extinct. With the exception of-" He made a slight meaningful nod.

"They're dead." Aelia snapped.

"But what if..." His whisper trailed off.

"Hm." She chewed her mouthful of food thoughtfully, she had never really considered the life of the dinosaurs on Isle Nublar since she had been airlifted off of it, barely conscious, leaning on her mother for support and shaking uncontrollably, all due to the large, agonising gashes on either side of her spine, "I heard a hurricane wiped out Isla Nublar - though I'd take that with a pinch of salt - but I doubt the dinosaurs would've survived anyway, they where engineered to not survive without a high dose of lysine. Seven days without it and they should die." She sighed, "But they weren't supposed to breed or escape either."

"So there's a chance?"

"There is a chance, but if we want to go, we've got to go through In-Gen and Hammond." She gave a cautious look around the table, "I got a letter from Lex the other week though, her grandfather - Hammond - he apparently said something about a 'Site B'." Charlie's face split into a grin, as Aelia's mouth became thin line, "He is a bit mad though, powered by a desire to make things good, or better, or more lethal. I mean, I could understand why he wouldn't want to get rid of all of that work, Doctor Wu and the other geneticists did a lot of beautiful, in the worst way." She shuddered as the sound of the raptors hissing breath came to her mind, Charlie placed a comforting hand on her arm, "The lysine though," She knew she was arguing with herself at this point, "unless they're eating lysine rich food, soy, things like that, they won't survive. If there is anything, I doubt it'd be anything particularly interesting, probably just a few compys."

"What are you two whispering about?" Arthur asked, causing them both to jump.

"School." Aelia replied promptly.

"Dragons." Charlie replied at the same time, they both gave the other a side long glances.

"Care of magical creatures." They both said simultaneously.

"Hmm." Molly looked at the two, both of which had bickered over a fork earlier in the week, noticing a slight shake of Aelia's head, she turned to Bill, "Bill, that earring, dear-"

Aelia stopped listening, concentrating on her breakfast. With Harry arriving later the next day, the house seemed ready to burst, Percy was being driven up the wall by Fred and George, in fact, even though she had always been a social person, Aelia was feeling cramped by the number of people, she had decided to visit the town, but felt that Sunday would be the best day to take to the streets of Ottery St Catchpole for the day.

Waking at her usual early hour, she left the house before most of the Weasleys woke, saying a goodbye to Molly as she left.

Wandering the streets of the town, Aelia appeared to be lost to others, yet she was quite happy, she enjoyed spending time by herself, in new places, this had often landed her in deep trouble, she had once been caught walking unknowingly out of Hogsmeade by Professor McGonagall, who had lectured herself hoarse, before Aelia could even tell her that she hadn't realised where she was going.

As lunch time drew near, Aelia had walked back into the centre of the town, as she was about to enter a small alley, having been desperate to return a small tea shop, a shout stopped her in her tracks, she turned to see a familiar face walking towards her.

"Ian?" She beamed, Ian Malcolm walking towards her, "Hi!"

"Aelia! Kid, hey! How are you?" He asked, clapping her on the back.

"I'm good, yeah, you?" Aelia replied.

"I've been okay, leg's still iffy." The chaoticitian explained.

"Do you want to join me for lunch? I've not seen you in years." She suggest, Ian nodded and followed her down the alley.

As they sat in the tea shop, they chatted casually, both avoiding the subject of Isla Nublar incident. Aelia had the added task of not accidentally letting slip about magic, which only doubled when a red haired man entered the café.

"Oh Merlin." She muttered.

"What?" Ian blinked, unsure of what she said.

"The guy, red hair, who just walked in, don't let him see me." She ducked down slightly, attempting to hide herself behind a menu.

"Why?"

"Don't ask."

"I think it's too late." Ian was right, Charlie had spotted her and were walking directly to the table.

"Aelia, did you really think we wouldn't be able to find y-" Charlie began, but stopped at the sight of Ian, "Aelia! I thought you liked m-"

"Charles!" She reprimanded, "This is Doctor Ian Malcolm, he's a family friend."

"Ian Malcolm? He was at-"

"Yes." She replied uncharacteristically sharp, "Charlie, grab a chair." Ian looked curiously at Charlie, he felt as if he had seen before.

"Have we met?" He asked, once Charlie had returned with a seat, "I recognise you."

"I work in Romania, if you've been around Romania, that's probably where." Charlie shrugged.

"Romania? You're what? Twenty?"

"Twenty one." He corrected.

"What kind of job requires a twenty one year old to move to Romania of all places?" Malcolm questioned.

"Oh Merlin," Charlie's ears turned red, "I do nothing, I just kind of live with some frien-"

"You just said you had a job?" Ian pressed on, Aelia let out a long sigh.

"I was doing so well, Charlie." She shook her head, Charlie looked affronted, "Well, we should get the bill, this isn't something we should be talking about in a crowded space. Don't look at me like that, Charlie! Ian's trustworthy, there's no point trying to deny it, he may as well know and, well, he saved me on the island." She put emphasis on the last one so that both men could come to the same understanding.

"Right, let's - um - walk." Ian cleared his throat.

 **Ian ayy B)**

 **T** **hank you all for the patience in between updates, I appreciate it very much.**

 **Also thank you to the people who have favourited and followed, it means the world to me 3  
**

 **-Ellie**


	4. Chapter 3

By the time Aelia - with the help of Charlie - had explained everything, within reason, to Ian, it had became late afternoon, with Harry's imminent arrival to the Burrow, Charlie and Aelia were both becoming increasingly conscious of the time.

"I think I understand." Ian finally breathed, "Honestly, you're right, not a lot surprises me any more."

"The Nublar incident took all your fears and ruined them too?" There was sad tone in Aelia's voice when she spoke, Ian simply nodded.

"'Lia?" Charlie interrupted, "I hate to but in, but we need to be getting back." He was looking as his wristwatch, it was only as she tried to look at his watch, that Aelia noticed a piece of elasticated thread round his wrist, dirtied from wear, with what was unmistakably a very small, broken ammonite. She grinned, she remembered giving the bracelet to Charlie before he had left for Romania.

"Aelia?" He promoted again.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." She shook herself out of thought, "Sorry Ian, I've talked too much, keep in touch? Properly this time?"

"Sure thing, kiddo." He laughed, reminding Aelia forcibly of the the laugh she had heard from him when they had been in the helicopter on the way to Isla Nublar. The two shared a brief hug, said their goodbyes and left in their separate way.

"He seemed nice." Charlie mused, "What does he do? Maths?"

"No, he's a chaotician." Aelia explained, "He studies the idea behind chaos." She said, seeing Charlie's confused expression.

Molly was in a towering temper by the time Charlie and Aelia returned to the Burrow, evidently, Charlie's watch was still set to the time it would be in Romania, meaning they were an hour later than they had been told to, Ginny and Hermione explained that Molly wanted all the family home for Harry's entrance, so had forced Arthur, the twins and Ron to wait.

"I would say I felt bad," Aelia sighed, "but I don't, I saw an old friend, a Muggle friend, and I forgot what a personality he is." She smiled softly, "He flirted with my Mom." Ginny's head whipped around.

"What?" She asked, massaging her neck.

"You're going to get whiplash really badly one of these days." A grin spread over Aelia's face, as she remembered the time she had spent in the tour vehicle - before everything on the island had, quite frankly, gone to shit - watching Ian Malcolm flirt with her Mom, while her Dad's scowl became more and more severe, "It was so funny, him, explaining chaos theory using a cup of water, my Dad's face? Priceless."

"Well, what happened after?"

"We saw a really ill triceratops and dug through her poop." She replied, Hermione's eyes grew into the size of dinner plates, "What?"

"A triceratops?"

"She was tranquillised, Hermione, besides, trikes are herbivores." She waved a hand as if to brush Hermione's concern away, yet she continued to look in shock at Aelia, then realisation hit her like a train, "You don't-? Do you?"

"Don't what?"

"You know, I think I'm going to go into the kitchen, wait for Harry, y'know?" She gabbled, Ginny nodding, sharing a significant look with each other.

Yet Hermione found herself not upset by their reactions, sure, she didn't like it the Aelia was keeping something from her, but she understood why. She had seen Aelia change when they had been sharing Ginny's room between the three of them, she had seen the long scars on her back that looked as if something - she could easily guess what it was from the books that littered her camp bed by day - had simply ripped her flesh like paper, she shuddered at the thought. Not to mention, she had noticed, when she fell asleep late, that Aelia often whimpered in her sleep, yet never seemed to mention having nightmares or terrors to anyone. Hermione had came to the conclusion that Aelia had been injured by either a dragon, or - judging by what she had heard her mutter in her sleep - dinosaurs.

"Come on, Hermione." Ginny said, bringing her out of thought, "Let's go and see Harry."

Aelia enjoyed Harry's company at dinner that night, they had, without realising it, began to think each other as siblings, occasionally exchanging letters - Harry had asked her for food after the Dursley's had forced into a diet, she had sent a large box of various candies she had been given - exchanging small Christmas gifts (Aelia had sent more food for Harry's birthday after checking the date with Ron) and the two found that they had a surprising amount of similarities. Both had lost their parents at young ages, both were told they looked like their father and both reacted badly to dementors. She shuddered at the very thought of the dreadful creatures, remembering only too well the way she had came to her senses after first encountering one, tears mingling with sweat her as she had frozen in the train corridor, her wand drawn and the unearthly roar of the tyrannosaurus Rex echoing. Professor Lupin had had to talk to her until she remembered that she was far from Isla Nublar and was instead on the train to Hogwarts in Scotland.

After the group (now made up of all nine of the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and Aelia) had ate their way through the mass of food Molly has prepared and had grown sleepy with the setting sun, they had been chivvied up to bed by Molly, after she had exclaimed how late it was and how early they would have to wake. Aelia didn't groan with Fred and George or roll her eyes with Ron, but smiled gratefully, she was struggling to keep her eyes open for half an hour. Charlie watched her smile to herself as she helped carry a pile of plates back into the Burrow, unable to stop himself smiling with her small joy, when he felt a hand on each shoulder, he looked left and right to see Feed and George standing either side of him.

"What?" He asked, knowing full well what they were going to say.

"If you hurt her-" George began.

"-you'll have us to answer to." Fred finished, before trailing up the garden path and leaving Charlie to wonder, _was it really that obvious?_

 **I updated? Hi! I'm not dead, just depressed and tired and stressed and busy with GCSEs (or muggle O.W.L.s)**

 **-Ellie**


	5. Chapter 4

Rising earlier than the sun, Aelia was pleased to have the company of both Arthur and Molly Weasley in the kitchen with her, both yawning morning pleasantries to each other, Arthur showing off his muggle attire of a golfing jumper and a pair of old jeans that kept slipping down.

"Those pants are a little bit big for you, we're walking, right? You just need a belt to stop your pants falling down - oh, damn. Trousers, not pants." She corrected herself, "Apart from that, very muggle."

"A belt, of course." He sighed before leaving to once again climb the stairs, returning with a thick leather belt in his hands, with Aelia's nod of approval, he laced it through the loops on the trousers and buckled it

By the time Molly was stirring a large pot of porridge, Harry, flagged by Ron and the twins and after both Harry and Aelia had learnt what "splinching" was, Ginny and Hermione had arrived, pale faced and drowsy.

"How did you manage to sneak downstairs without waking us?" Ginny asked Aelia, rhetorically, rubbing her eyes, "And why do we have to be up so early?"

Aelia drowned the rest of the conversation in her mug, feeling near quilt as she though of her morning as being almost been stolen from her. She was used to watching the sun rise out of Ginny's bedroom and then being blissfully alone in the usually crowded kitchen and then letting the soft morning breeze cool her mug of coffee.

"George!" Molly's voice was like a whip, causing everyone to jump and Aelia to lose her train of thought.

"What?" He replied, averting his eyes from hers, clearly trying to hide his guilt but fooling no one.

"What is in your pocket?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing!"

"Don't lie to me!" She pointed her wand at his pockets and said, "Accio!"Several small, brightly wrapped items flew into her outstretched hands and Aelia hid her grin by taking a sip of coffee, the twins had been trying to smuggle 'Ton Tongue Toffees' out of the house, "We told you to destroy them!" Molly held them up, allowing the whole kitchen to see them more clearly, "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!" And by repeating the summoning charm, Molly was able to extract the toffees from unlikely places, including the lining of George's jackets and the turn ups of Fred's jeans. Aelia sat, quite amused, painfully aware that she had a handful of the very same toffees in the pocket of her over shirt and another handful being kept warm in her bra, she hadn't wanted Fred and George to lose all of the toffees after she had helped them make them.

"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted, watching his mother drop them unceremoniously into the bin, forgetting about the extra ones hidden on Aelia.

"Oh, fine way to spend six months! No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!" She shrieked.

The atmosphere was far from friendly as the group made their departure with the twins glowering worse than their mother as they left, rucksacks hoisted high on their backs and refusing to turn to say goodbye to her.

"Well, have a lovely time." She said, "and behave yourself." She called to the twins, who did not reply, "I'll send Bill, Charlie and Percy along around midday."

Aelia caught up to the twins in the half darkness, the chilly air biting her face, as she fell into step with them, she put her hand in her breast pocket and passed George the handful of Ton Tongue Toffees, she did the same with the toffees in her bra, passing them to Fred instead, both grinned widely.

"Thanks." George punched her arm, pocketing the toffees.

"Why did I get these ones?" Fred asked, pocketing his handful with an expression of slight disgust.

"It's a good hiding place." She shrugged, hearing the rest of the group coming closer as they walked, "Where are we going?"

"There." George pointed to a large mass beyond Ottery St Catchpole, "Stoadshead Hill. We're taking a Portkey." He explained as they trudged down the dark lane towards the village, the silence that felt being broken only by the sound of their feet meeting ground, the sky slowly turning from a charcoal black to deep, navy blue.

No one had any breath to spare as they ascended Stoatshead Hill, slipping on grass and tripping up over rabbit holes, hidden in the uniform murky green. Only as she found level ground did Aelia find herself panting slightly, stretching her legs with a groan.

"Whew..." She heard Arthur pant as he took off his glasses and cleaned them on his jumper, "Well, we've made good time - we've got ten minutes..."

Hermione was the last up the hill, massaging a stitch in her side.

"Now we just need the Portkey," said Mr Weasley, placing his glasses back on his face and squinting around at the floor, "It won't be big... Come on..."

They spread out and began to raking the ground for an item that could be a portkey, but barely minutes into their search, a shout broke the sleepy silence of the night.

"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!" A tall figure shouted, standing close by another similar figure, silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hill top, Arthur called out to him and made his way to where the two people stood. Aelia followed with the others around her to find Arthur shaking hands with a ruddy faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard, in his hand that was not in Arthur's, he held a mouldy old boot.

"This is Amos Diggory, everyone." Arthur explained, "Works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?"

Cedric Diggory was in the same year as Aelia, he was tall and undeniably attractive, his captaincy and position of Seeker in the Hufflepuff Quidditch team at Hogwarts doing noting but to make him - as Aelia had heard several girls in her dormitory say - more 'crushable'. Aelia had to admit, sheb quite liked Cedric as a friend, they had chatted it herbology lessons since their first year after she had been separated from Lee, Fred and George for disrupting the class and Cedric had never been anything but exceptionally kind to her.

"Hi!" Cedric smiled around the group, everyone but Fred and George replying, who nodded curtly instead. They had evidently not forgiven Cedric for beating the Gryffindor team at Quidditch in their first match the year prior.

"Long walk, Arthur?" Amos asked.

"Not too bad." Arthur replied, "We live just on the other side of the village there. You?"

"Had to get up at two, did we Ced?" Cedric nodded at his father's words, "I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still... not complaining... Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons - and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy..." Amos peered around good-naturally at the group standing around Arthur, "All there yours, Arthur?"

"Oh, no, only the redheads." Arthur pointed to his children, "And this is Aelia, friend of Fred and George. This is Hermione, friend of Ron's - and Harry, another friend-"

"Merlin's beard," Amos' eyes widened, "Harry? Harry Potter?"

Aelia felt a pang of empathy for Harry as replied, "Er - yeah." She was often recognised when she introduced herself to academics, them recognising both her surnames and immediately asking her about her parent's dig sites and as she was now often unable to answer what they had been finding on the dig, owing to her being in a different continent for most of the year, it made her hugely uncomfortable.

"Ced's talked about you, of course. Told us about playing you last year... I said to him, I said - Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will... you beat Harry Potter!"

Both Harry and Cedric shared expressions of embarrassment, Fred and George where scowling worse than ever.

"Harry fell off his broom, Dad," Cedric muttered, "I told you, it was an accident..."

"Yes, but you didn't, did you?" Amos roared genially, slapping Cedric's back, "Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman, but the best man won, I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, your don't need to be a genius to the which one's a better flier!"

Aelia had a retort ready, but Arthur quickly spoke, "Must be nearly time." He checked his watch, "Do you know whether we're waiting for anymore, Amos?"

"No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets." said Amos, "There aren't anymore of us in this area, are there?"

"Not that I know of. Yes it's a minute off, we'd better get ready..." Arthur explained how to use the Portkey to Hermione and Harry, Aelia feeling like something of a pro at using Portkeys as she had used international Portkeys to travel from various dig sites and conferences to England and back again instead of using the more expensive muggle alternative of taking an aeroplane.

"Three..." Arthur muttered once all ten people had crowded - with difficulty, owing to their rucksacks- around the boot, all with a finger on the mouldy old boot, "two..." Aelia took a deep breath, knowing the feel that was about to sweep over her body, "one..." And a hook behind her navel jerked her forwards, her feet left the ground and she could feel her shoulders bashing into Fred on her left and Ginny on her right, unable to let go of the boot.

As quickly as it had start, the feeling stopped and Aelia's feet made contact with the ground, her trainers slamming into the mud, she wobbled and steadied herself to see everyone - minus herself, both Diggorys and Arthur - lying on the floor, the boot near Harry's head.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill." Said a voice.

 **Slightly longer chapter, nearly 1.7k words. It does feel like a filler chapter, but hey, they happen!**

 **Hope u enjoyed it tho**

 **-Ellie**


	6. Chapter 5

Offering her hand to Ginny, Aelia looked around at where they had landed, they were out on a long stretch of a misty moor, that was deserted except for the group and two wizards, dressed so bizarrely that they had to be wizards, one in a tweed suit and thigh-length galoshes and the other a kilt and poncho, Aelia stifled a laugh as she made eye contact with Hermione.

"Morning, Basil." Mr Wesley said to the kilted wizard, passing him the grubby boot.

"Hello there, Arthur," replied Basil, clearly exhausted, he gave the two parties their campsite ("Weasley... About a quarter of a mile's walk over there.") And the two groups continued, unable to make out anything through the mist. Twenty minutes later, however, a quaint stone cottage came into view, beyond it, the ghostly shape of hundreds of tents haunted the moor. They bed the Diggorys farewell and turned to the cottage door, in which a man stood, looking out at the tents.

"Morning!" Mr Weasley beamed.

"Morning." The man replied, and Aelia listened with mild interest to the conversation, only just realising how odd Wizard gold must seem to Muggles as the campsite owner, Mr Roberts, explained he had been payed with gold Galleons. He continued, commenting that all the magic folk that had congregated seemed to know one another. As he did so, a wizard in plus-fours appeared with a resounding crack next to Mr Roberts, his wand out.

"Oblivate!" He said sharply, instantly, Mr Roberts' eyes slipped out of focus and he appeared to be in a dream like state as he gave Arthur his change. She smiled to the ground, recognising the spell and the symptoms of a person who had just had their memories modified.

The Oblivator looked exhausted with deep purple shadows under his eyes and his chin looked nearly bruised with stubble, now out of earshot of Mr Roberts, he spoke to Arthur.

"Been having a lot of trouble with him. Needs a memory charm ten times a day to keep him happy. And Ludo Bagman's not helping. Trotting sound talking about bludgers and quaffles at the top of his voice, not a worry about anti-Muggle security

Blimey, I'll be glad when this is over. See you, Arthur." And with that, he turned and another crack told them he had disapparated.

"Bagman? I thought Mr Bagman was Head of Magical Games and Sports?" Aelia asked, furrowing her brow, next to her, Ginny nodded her head, a look of surprise on her face.

"Yeah, so, he should know better than to talk about bludgers near Muggles, shouldn't he?"

"He should," Arthur was smiling as he lead the group through the gates into the campsite, "but Ludo's always been a bit, well, lax about security. You couldn't wish for a more enthusiastic Head of Sports Department, though. He played Quidditch for England himself, you know. And he was the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had."

Aelia felt at home in the misty ocean of tents, most of which looked perfectly ordinary, the owners making them look as Muggle passing as possible, however, she occasionally spotting tents where they had slipped up by adding odd features, chimneys, bell pulls and weather vanes. And then there where tents that simply screamed 'magic' and Aelia understood how Mr Roberts was becoming suspicious. One tent, about halfway through the field looked like a palace made of striped silk with live peacocks tethered at the entrance, another had three floors and several turrets and one had an entire front garden attached, birdbath, sundial and fountain included. She heard Arthur sigh, but saw the smile on his face.

"Always the same, we can't resist showing off when we get together." Aelia smiled, that was something she saw all the time, when other paleontologists visited sites, the best beers where cracked open (she, of course, had none) and only the best acid baths where used, "Ah, here we are, look, this is us." They had reached an empty patch at the top of the field, right on the edge of the woods, a small sign had been hammered into the soft ground reading 'Weezly'.

"That outstanding spelling." Aelia snorted to Fred and George, "It's like people trying to spell my name for the first time." Both the twins chuckled lightly.

"Couldn't have a better spot!" Arthur said, happily, "The pitch is just on the other side of that wood there, we're as close as we could be." He removed his backpack from his shoulders and Aelia followed his lead, dumping her backpack on the ground near his, "Right," he spoke excitedly, "no magic allowed - strictly speaking - not when we're out in these numbers on Muggle land. We'll be putting these tents up by hand! Shouldn't be too difficult... Muggles do it all the time," He turned to Aelia and Harry, "where do you reckon we should start?"

"No idea." Aelia shrugged, she noticed Harry also looked lost and clearly had either never been taken camping or had always been allowed to play when the tents where being set up, she suspected the former, feeling sympathetic for the young boy.

"Sure you do, you lived in a tent!" George said, nudging her with his elbow.

"Yeah! Don't lie to us, Aelia!" Fred joined in, the twins grinned as Aelia shot them a half glare, ruined by her laughter.

"

I'm used to putting up my teepee and that's it! Really!" And it was true, after the discovery that teepees we're not only strong against the powerful winds in the badlands but also spacious and fairly easy to set up, Aelia had been given her own, smaller, teepee, allowing her privacy from her parents on dig sites. For her, it was the equivalent of having her own bedroom, a luxury she hadn't experience since - according to her parents accounts of her biological mother and father's house - the age of three.

"Damn, I should've brought my teepee." She commented as she began to help the group assemble the pair of two man tents.

 ** _I have two exams on Monday (like five in total next week) and I'm writing this instead wow_**

 ** _-Ellie_**


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